Habakkuk 3:8  Was the LORD displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation?
9  Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.
10  The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high.
11  The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.
12  Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger.
13  Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah.

There are a couple of thoughts with regard to what God is talking of in verse 8. One thought is when God spoiled the waters in Egypt as part of His plagues against them, to release the nation of Israel from bondage. The other is that this is a reference to the dividing of the Red Sea to allow the nation of Israel to cross on dry ground and then 40 years later He parted the Jordan River to allow the nation to cross into the land of Canaan on dry ground. It seems to me that the second thought is the more likely one.
In these verses God rehearsed past events regarding the nation of Israel. He used other elements of His creation to demonstrate an important point. His concern was for people, not for nature. He would use nature to teach important lessons. Israel failed to grasp the importance of those lessons.
God spoke of His salvation that He provided. He saved the people from Egyptian bondage and brought them safely out of the land of Egypt. Their enemies were destroyed in the Red Sea. Then He brought them safely into the land of Canaan and gave them victory against their enemies as they began to possess the land long ago promised to Abraham.
In verse 9 we see that God fought for His people. He took down the walls of Jericho and the people took that city. After Joshua dealt with the sin of Achan, they took Ai and continued to take over that land. God did the fighting for them. They had to do their part, but God gave them the victory. It was rather obvious that God was the One Who granted them the victory. Israel had come out of Egypt. They did not fight there. They were slaves. They were not trained in warfare. Yet they could take city after city and claim the land.
God caused water to flow out of a rock to satisfy the thirst of the people and of the cattle as they wandered in the wilderness. In verse 10 we read of the mountains trembling. Mount Sinai shook as God met with Moses there. God gave him the ten commandments and many other laws. Again we have the mention of the waters here. Habakkuk needed to be reminded of the power and authority of the LORD as He brought the nation of Israel into the land He promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
In verse 11 Habakkuk was reminded of God’s intervention when the nation fought against Amalek. Joshua asked God to cause the sun and the moon to stand still so that he could rout the enemies of God. God granted his request and they were able to finish the job. There has never been another day like that in the history of the world.
There are people who suggest such a thing could never happen. They fail to understand that the same God Who spoke the sun and moon into their place and who put the earth into its rotation, is the same God Who can stop the rotation of the earth and nothing bad will happen. All things consist by the Lord Jesus Christ so it is no problem for God to do what seems impossible to man. Man cannot do such things, but God can. Man should stand in awe of this great God. Certainly the nation of Israel should have seen the greatness of the LORD, yet they exchanged that greatness for idolatry.
The nations did not have a chance against God. The nations learned to fear the LORD and the nation of Israel. Sadly, Israel turned away from God and God opened the land to invasions from His enemies.
In verse 13 we are reminded that God did all this for His people. He provided salvation for them. He did not do this because they deserved it or had earned it. They were no better than anyone else. God chose Abraham and blessed him, yet Abraham doubted God and lied about his wife twice. He chose to commit adultery with Hagar rather than trust God to keep His Word. Isaac followed his father and lied about his wife as well. He ignored God’s promise regarding his sons and tried to bless Esau when the blessing belonged to Jacob. Jacob was a schemer and he needed to learn that his scheming was a hindrance to God’s Work. He needed to learn to trust God as well.
The point that Israel needed to learn, and that all people need to learn is, that God does not need our help. He is well able to keep His promises. When man gets in the way, he tries to mess up God’s plan. God is greater than man and even though man tries hard to mess up God’s plan, he cannot succeed.
God rejected Abraham’s plan to “help” God fulfil His promise of a son. God rejected Isaac’s plan to bless Esau rather than Jacob. God worked in spite of all of Jacob’s scheming. He continued to build His nation.
God blessed the nation abundantly. He subdued their enemies and destroyed many of them. The greatest enemy that Israel had was within her own heart. If the people would have humbled themselves and trusted in the LORD, they would never have been in the bind they were in at the time of Habakkuk. If they would trust Him now, they would not be facing the threats they have to live with.
The same is true for the Gentile world. We need to listen to the LORD. We need to submit to Him and know His peace and blessing. That is what is important. Every individual needs to choose whom they will follow. Every person is influenced by someone. The wise person comes to see the need to listen to God. We listen to God through His Word. We can look into the heavens and see the glory of God. We can know that the stars, the clouds, the air we breathe, etc. did not come by accident. As we accept the obvious, God will further open our eyes to see our need to know this God. We will not know Him by meditating on our imaginations. We will know Him by looking into His Word and listening to God-fearing individuals who can help us to know the true God.
Israel chose to reject the blessings of the LORD and the result was trouble. The Gentile world is no better. Babylon was a picture of the Gentile world. God granted them success for a time. He also gave them Godly men to influence them with the truth. Babylon fell because they did not take advantage of the blessings of God. We are no different today. God’s Word is available however most people have no time for truth. Their own imaginations are far more important to them than truth. Thus the world continues to cruise toward destruction. You and I as individuals do not need to cruise with the world. We can choose to listen to God and know His peace and blessing in the midst of a troubled and dying world. God has demonstrated His ability to help those who submit to Him. Habakkuk would learn more about this. We also need to learn more about this.
Pastor Bartel